Boaz’s Field of Kindness Preschool Lesson
Preschool lesson (ages 3–6, 20 minutes)
1. Welcome (3 min)
Sit in a circle, greet every child by name and show one thing from the story to touch.
2. The little story (5 min)
Teach the refrain first: “Ruth was safe under God’s wings.”
Ruth and Naomi lived in Bethlehem. They were poor and needed food. It was harvest time. Workers were cutting barley in the fields. Barley is a grain, like wheat, for making bread.
Ruth said, “Let me now go to the field, and glean.” To glean means to pick up the grain the workers leave behind. Naomi said, “Go, my daughter.” Can you bend down and pick up grain like Ruth?
Ruth came to a field that belonged to a man named Boaz. He was from Naomi’s family. Boaz came to see his workers. “May the LORD be with you,” he said. “May the LORD bless you,” they answered.
Boaz saw Ruth. “Whose young lady is this?” he asked. “She came back with Naomi from Moab,” they said. “She has worked hard all morning.”
Boaz said to Ruth, “Stay here in my field. When you are thirsty, drink from the water jars.” Ruth bowed down low. “Why are you so kind to me? I am a foreigner.” A foreigner is someone from another land.
Boaz said he had heard everything Ruth did for Naomi. She had left her father and mother and her own land. She had come to a people she did not know.
Boaz said, “May the LORD repay your work.” He said Ruth had come to take refuge under God’s wings. Refuge means a safe place. Like little chicks under their mother’s wings! Can you spread your arms like big wings? Ruth was safe under God’s wings.
At mealtime Boaz said, “Come here, and eat some bread.” Ruth sat with the workers. They gave her roasted grain. She ate all she wanted, and some was left over. Yum!
Then Boaz told his workers to pull out some grain for her on purpose. “Let her glean,” he said. Drop, drop, drop went the extra grain for Ruth.
Ruth worked until evening. Then she beat the grain out of the stalks. She had a big pile of barley! She took it home to Naomi. She gave Naomi the food left from lunch too.
“Where have you gleaned today?” Naomi asked. “His name is Boaz,” said Ruth. Naomi said, “May he be blessed by the LORD, who has not abandoned his kindness.” Boaz was a close relative. Ruth was safe under God’s wings.
Ruth worked in Boaz’s field all through the harvest. Later, Boaz went to the town gate, where the leaders sat. In those days, to make a deal, a man took off his sandal and gave it away! Can you pretend to take off your sandal?
Boaz said to the leaders, “You are witnesses today.” He would buy the land of Naomi’s family, and he would marry Ruth. “We are witnesses,” all the people said. Ruth was safe under God’s wings.
So Boaz married Ruth. The LORD gave them a baby boy. The women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD.” They said Ruth was better to Naomi than seven sons!
Naomi took the baby and held him close. She took care of him. They named him Obed. One day little Obed would be the grandfather of King David!
God took good care of Ruth and Naomi. Ruth was safe under God’s wings.
3. Talk together (3 min)
- How do you think Ruth felt when Boaz was kind to her?
- What do you think Naomi said when she saw the big pile of barley?
4. Move (3 min)
Refrain Freeze: move around the room; when you say the refrain, everyone freezes and says it together.
5. Make (4 min)
Draw a line to who said it.
6. Verse and prayer (2 min)
“Under whose wings you have come to take refuge” — Ruth 2:12 (under whose wings → spread your arms like wings; take refuge → wrap your arms around yourself)
Dear God, thank you that I am safe under your wings. Thank you for kind people who help us. Amen.
Lesson for older kids (ages 6–10)
Big idea: Kindness Comes from God
Memory verse: “May the LORD repay your work, and a full reward be given to you from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.” — Ruth 2:12 · WEB
The Bible story
When Ruth gathers leftover grain in a stranger's field, a kind farmer named Boaz shows her such gentle love that it changes both their lives forever.
Talk about it
- What town did Ruth come to live in with Naomi? — Bethlehem
- Who was Naomi to Ruth? — Her husband's mother
- What did Ruth go out to the fields to pick up? — Leftover grain
- Whose field was Ruth working in? — Boaz's field
- What kind of man was Boaz? — Kind and good
- What did Boaz say Ruth could drink whenever she was thirsty? — Water from his jars
Where is Jesus in this story?
Boaz cared for Ruth even though she was poor and came from far away, and he became her protector and family. This points us to Jesus, who is called our Redeemer. Just as Boaz welcomed Ruth in and rescued her from being alone, Jesus welcomes every one of us - no matter where we come from - into God's family with open, loving arms. And it was through Ruth and Boaz's own family that Jesus was one day born in Bethlehem.
What God wants to tell us
God loves it when we are gentle and generous, just like Boaz. Even when Ruth felt like a stranger with nothing, God was watching over her and using kind hearts to care for her. When we share what we have and treat others with love, we are showing the world a little bit of God's own kindness - and He promises to always look after us too.
Prayer
Thank You, God, for being kind to people who feel lonely or afraid. Help me to be gentle and generous like Boaz, and to share what I have with others. Thank You that You always take care of me and that I am part of Your big family. Amen.
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